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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Thanks to memories shared in histories and journals, and the prompt for this week's Six Sentence Stories - Migration provided by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog, a story written in six sentences was easy to create. This story is dedicated to my mother, who passed away this month and because of a move from a mountain home in the Ozarks did go on to attend and graduate from high school in California. If you want to read more of her adventurous move, click here.

“What about all those jars of fruit I canned and our pump organ?”

“I think that they just want us closer and know I can’t take care of this big farm by myself.Ever since I got sick with malaria and we had to move to the Ozarks, they've worried about us and how the rest of our children wouldn’t have a school to attend uphere beyond the eighth grade. They think we will have more opportunities in California and want us to join what seems to be the great migration westward.”

“Hopefully they are right, and if we get everything sold, we should all be able to squeeze into the Model T and be there with them by Thanksgiving.”

“It looks like we will be ending the year of 1929 with some new adventures, hopefully good ones.”

Friday, October 11, 2019

There are times when taking time or making time to write a post for a Ten Things of Thankful blog hop may seem not of the utmost importance considering other elements of one's life, but then again perhaps it is then, and especially then, that it is a good thing to do. Based on this musing, here goes. Kristi of Thankful Me is the host of Ten Things of Thankful and has the help of co-hosts, Clark, Dyanne, Lisa and myself. We hope you will considering joining us. Click here to see the rules for participating in this blog hop.

1. That our children have opportunities to travel and become acquainted with those living in countries other than their own and to visit in person some areas of our own country that they have never seen

2. For being able to get the piano tuned

It was hard to believe, but it had been four years since we last had the piano tuned, so it was long overdue.

3. That I didn't hit the bloated dead skunk laying on its back in the road today

When you are approaching the crest of the hill on a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders alongside, and there is a dead skunk just inside the center line on your side, you just hope for the best. Thankfully the best was what I got. . .just the scraping sound of its toenails against the tires, and a hint of aroma for a mile or so.

4. That it wasn’t the chassis of my car in the parking lot this week that a squirrel with an acorn in its mouth chose to ascend

5. For seeing the unexpected from a safe distance

One morning this week when the dew was still on the grass I looked out and saw this three-point and his harem of seven. I went upstairs to see if I could get a better view of him to take his photo. As the herd rounded the house, all but the three-point got spooked and started dashing here and there. (I thought perhaps the light from the camera scared them.) They ran away, but not him. He came charging up the hill right under the window where I was standing inside taking the photos. I took one photo of him when he was even closer, but unfortunately it was sort of blurry. He looked right at me, like "Leave my girls alone." I suspect if I'd been outside that close to him he would have charged me.

Three-point buck

6. For blessings given for healing,comfort and encouragement

This week my mother received a blessing of comfort, and even though she is unable to hear, I believe that some things are felt in the heart through the Spirit.

7. For help that is only a phone call away

8. For my brother and his counsel and thoughts regarding our mother

9. For a phone call from a nephew

I appreciated his call and his concern.

10. For Vic and his encouragement, understanding and love

11. For those who have been blessed with beautiful voices and are willing to share their voices with the worldSissel Kyrkjebø was a guest performer at a concert with The Tabernacle Choir this past summer. She sings like an angel.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Ten Things of Thankful time is upon us. Our host, Kristi of Thankful Me, opens the link each Friday to give us time to write about those things that put a positive spin on our lives. In reality there are many challenges that people face during each week and not everything in our lives is hunky dory, but with a little thought we can see the sunny side of life. Clark, Dyanne, Lisa and myself all help out by being co-hosts and visit and read your posts too. You still have time to link up. It stays open until Tuesday. Check out the rules for the blog hop here.

1. Calendars

What would we do without them? It is so much easier to have a calendar to remind me of appointments, responsibilities, and things that I really want to do, like watch General Conference today. When I drove to another town to visit my mom between sessions and wasn't able to get back in time to see the beginning of the afternoon session, my husband started recording it on the TV so I wouldn't miss any of it. I hadn't asked him to do that, because I was hoping to be back in time. I love him for doing that for me.

2. The flowers that are still blooming reminding me it is still fall and we haven’t had freezing weather at our elevation just yet

This huge planter of flowers bringsa bit of cheer at the entrance of an assisted living facility

3. For those times this week when the heavy rainstorms that were occurring when I went into a store had ceased and was replaced with sunshine as I was exiting the building

4. The locating post on my electric can opener

After becoming totally frustrated by my inability to correctly use my electric can opener, it remained unused, for the most part, for years. This week however, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to use a hand can opener to open a box full of cans of expired food without wrecking havoc with my hands. Fortunately I still had the instruction manual, so I read the instructions "again" and found out why I had been so unsuccessful. My hands are living proof that I gotit to work this time!

5. Places to escape, if only for a day or two, in order to have a change of scenery from activities and responsibilities

Depending on the stage in one’s life, the times of being able to escape may be ever so brief, but still so important.

6. Stories that can be told in six sentences for a blog hop (Six Sentence Stories - Coast) and then can betweaked a bit to use for one of my real life stories I wrote this week

7. Old photos and the memories they stir

My husband has been writing stories about some of the photos taken of his family when he wasgrowing up.I am so thankful that he is sharing these stories with our family.

8. Verifying the possibility that a family story really could have happened in the manner reported

When one of my grandmothers was still alive she had mentioned to some in the family that she thought her father had died from trying to save a cow that had contracted rabies after the cow had been bitten by a rabid dog. Interestingly enough there are reports online of some who have died in that same way. My great grandfather died in 1908 so the chances that he would have had any way to survive rabies would have been next to impossible.

9. The example of those who know the power forgiveness can have on both the offender and the one offended

This week I was very touched by the courtroom scene where a young man hugged the woman who had been found guilty of killing his brother.What a blessing it is for him to have learned this important lesson at a young age.

10. Relationships

The relationship that exists between husband and wife

Relationships between parents and children

Relationships between children and their siblings

Relationships among the ancestors and descendants

Relationships between friends, neighbors, co-workers and those within our spheres of existence

She could hear them coming, closer and closer, but that was okay because she knew as they hit the rocky cliffs near the shore with a resounding splash all her pent up worries would ride out to sea on the ebbing waves.

The coast was the perfect place to escape for a couple of days with a carload of friends during spring break, to walk on the beach looking for sand dollars and agates and to run into the approaching waves with all the energy teenager girls could muster and then just as quickly run back to shore because of the frigidity of the waters.

Before traipsing with all the beach gear to the sandy shores they stopped at a candy store to load up with their favorite soda pop and snacks and of course the freshly made salt water taffy, the kind that was soft and chewy unlike the kind that had hardened while sitting on grocery store shelves back home.

Picking the perfect spot to spread out their colorful beach blankets and sun bathe was a priority of the day, but not the only one.

Not wanting to end up with a sunburn, she slathered on suntan lotion, the kind that was guaranteed to make your skin the color of brand new copper penny if it was used correctly.

While she listened to the drone of some of the girls conversing about their boyfriends or lack of, she relaxed under the warm sunshine to the point that her backside resembled a not quite ripe tomato because she'd lost track of time and the need for more of the magic penny lotion.